To comply with the Cabinet's plan to stabilize commodity prices, six local hypermarket and supermarket chains will establish "low-price supply areas" within their stores beginning on Monday in a bid to help consumers combat price hikes.
Vice Premier Paul Chiu (邱正雄), who also serves as chairman of the Consumer Protection Commission (消保會), announced on Thursday that the government had selected a total of 10 basic commodities including rice, flour, vegetable oil, eggs and others, which the stores have agreed to offer at low prices to consumers.
Norman Yin (殷乃平), professor of finance and banking at National Chengchi University, said the government’s policy of establishing low-cost supply areas will improve the public’s impression of its commodity policy, but will not solve the real problem in the long run, as it will add to the retailers’ burden.
“To solve the problem, the government will have to lower costs, or increase production and open up imports, instead of merely asking retailers to lower their prices,” Yin said.
The six participating chains are Carrefour Taiwan (家樂福), RT-Mart (大潤發), Far Eastern Geant Co (愛買), Wellcome Supermarkets (頂好超市), Sungching (松青超市) and Chuan Lian Centers (全聯福利中心).
In related news, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said on Thursday that the country’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) for May rose 3.71 percent compared with the same month last year, largely because of a significant hike in food prices.
Among food products, the price of meat increased the most at 18 percent, followed by those of grains at 13 percent and aquatic products at 12 percent. Fruit and vegetable prices, on the other hand, declined slightly by 0.92 percent and 0.72 percent, respectively.
Produce that has skyrocketed over the past year includes bananas, up 160 percent year-on-year, and papayas, which were 67 percent higher than last May.
Prices of the widely consumed fish, tilapia, were up 36 percent, while eggs rose 24 percent and adult milk powder increased by 24 percent.
Prices of Western style breakfasts increased 15 percent, those of Chinese noodles were up 14 percent, and rice and bread prices rose 11 percent.
There were some items, however, whose prices fell dramatically last month on a year-on-year basis. The price of garlic was down 28 percent, while the price of potatoes and watermelons fell 22 percent and 20 percent, respectively.
The costs of tomatoes, peaches, oranges and guavas all declined by between 18 percent and 20 percent.
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